A not so revolutionary blog about feminism, socialism, activism, travel, nature, life, etc.

Archive for the month “April, 2017”

The March for Science Under the Anti-Capitalist Microscope

The title of this blog post, unlike the signs at the March for Science, is a little uninspired. To tell you the truth, I regret that did not attend the March for Science this past Saturday. This is not because I am against science, but because I had worked the night shift the night before and didn’t want to short change my sleep. I support the march and was glad to see that Duluth had a great turnout. It was wonderful that individuals who do not normally attend marches went to the science march. I was also glad to see that there was a great turnout across the country. Science is important for society and should be defended. The fact that it was defended with a march is important, since it normalizes protest which is an essential organizing tool as it is the public, mass, visible sharing of ideas and demands. Thus, I am elated that another protest has happened and that it was attended by hundreds of thousands of people. However, I couldn’t help but notice that the media treated the science march very differently than the women’s march. I think that this is because science is less of a threat to the functioning of capitalism than the liberation of women.

To be fair, I am very biased. And, to be fair, this isn’t a very scientific analysis of the issue. Nevertheless, I noted very positive media coverage of the science march. For instance, an article in Forbes described the march as happy, delightful, and funny. Various articles highlighted fun costumes and signs. Fortune also called it fun and a “celeprotest” with signs that were more clever than other protests. Many articles pointed out that it was non-partisan, though certainly a reaction to the Trump administration. The coverage discussed the large crowds and hearty, fun protesters who braved the rain. Now, there was certainly positive coverage of the Women’s March, but there was also negative coverage about the signs left behind, the lack of diversity, problematic pussy hats, partisanship, etc. There was some critique from fellow scientists regarding the march, but this seemed centered upon the idea that science should be neutral and apolitical. There was a lot less criticism about the lack of diversity or that the science march was a display of white privilege. The science march was not called out in the same way for not supporting Black Lives Matter. The lack of scrutiny worries me, as certainly the March for Science could have been more diverse and certainly science has played a role in the oppression of various groups in society. This is not to let white feminism off the hook, but to note that many social movements struggle with their role in oppression. To me, the glowing media coverage represents the fact that science does not represent a real threat to capitalism or the status quo. At the same time, the Women’s March was covered more positively than Black Lives Matter and the Occupy Movement. Black Lives Matter calls into question police authority, the entire criminal justice system, the state’s right to kill, and racism. In reaction, politicians have scrambled to limit the right to protests that block traffic and have sought to impose fees on protesters. The Occupy Movement called into question banking, finance, social inequality, the right to occupy public space. The media portrayed protesters as frivolous, unruly, and even dirty. While the BDS movement does not receive as much media coverage, Democratic and Republican senators in Minnesota worked together to pass restrictions against offering contracts to vendors who boycott Israel. These movements are/were denigrated because they are very direct in their threat to the existing order.

The reason why I don’t think that science is a direct threat to capitalism is that, on some level, capitalism needs science to operate. While the capitalist economy is irrational in its destruction of the planet, focus on profits over human needs, and tendency towards crisis, it is very rational in other aspects. The process of extracting profit from labor is pretty rational. It is no wonder that the art of extracting more profit from labor was called “scientific management.” Frederick Taylor realized that labor output could be treated scientifically. Capitalism also seeks to generate more profits by increasing production. Increasing production often requires the use of technology, again, a very rational aspect of capitalism. Capitalism also requires wars, as this destroys competition, opens up new markets, and defends a country’s access to raw materials and cheap labor abroad. Science is necessary for the creation of more powerful machines and weapons. Research and development was actually been an all time high last November, as $499 billion was spent on R&D in the U.S. in 20015 (numbers released 2016). Over half of that money went to defense alone. Finally, where would capitalism be without science? There would have been no industrial revolution and no subsequent imperialist conquest of the globe. This does not make science bad, but, it should illustrate that science is actually pretty useful to capitalism.

Despite the many ways that science serves capitalism, it remains controversial in society. It seems odd that religiosity, irrationality, alternative facts, spirituality, etc. have any appeal in this system. Why does this conflict arise? Why are things like evolution and climate change at all controversial? There are many reasons for this. For one, Karl Marx observed that nothing is sacred in capitalism. For instance, children are nothing more than future workers and soldiers. If not for the efforts of the labor movement, the childhood enjoyed by many American children today would not exist at all. A woman’s womb is a machine to produce more workers and soldiers. A family is useful inasmuch as it reproduces labor and controls women’s sexuality and unpaid labor, but there is nothing good or virtuous about the family itself in the context of capitalism. Capitalism actually stole holidays or holy days from the masses in the interest of creating a disciplined workforce with a reliable, year round, schedule. I am sure many readers who have worked on Christmas or Thanksgiving can understand how nothing is sacred in the economy. Time off is treated as a privilege. Work divides families. It keeps people away from their children and makes them decide whether to take an unpaid day off work to see a school concert or attend to a child’s illness or face the economic consequence. In many ways, it would serve capitalism better if workers were nihilists with no love of their family, no joy in friendship and romance, no faith in religion, and no belief in any liberating ideology. Yet, no only does religion persist, it often exists at odds with science. Why?

Both science and religion play important roles in society. Karl Marx famously called religion the opiate of the masses. In Marx’s time, opium caused two wars between Western countries and China, meaning that like opium, religion is used by those with power to cause division and conflict in society. At the same time, opium was used to soothe pain. Religion therefore soothes the pains wrought by capitalist society by creating community and offering hope of a better world. The first function of religion is particularly important in capitalism. While science is generally pretty useful to capitalism, it can sometimes be pesky. Environmental science is pretty irksome. Climate change is very nettlesome. Rabid religiosity that is anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-environment, anti-trans, etc. is wonderfully divisive. It allows capitalism to chug along without unified opposition to the pillage of the planet. It allows capitalism to chug along as workers do not recognize their common oppressions and blame social problems on liberal teachers, feminists, gays and lesbians, atheists, or other religions. Religion is a useful tool in capitalism’s toolbox. And, since most religious folks focus their dismay about science to decry climate science or evolution rather than say, nuclear physics or science used in the interest of the U.S. war machine, capitalism can allow some degree of anti-science sentiments.

(I am not sure if this is a photo of a real event or fake, mockery of an anti-science protest)

Besides the fact that anti-science is helpful in dividing people and thwarting environmentalism, because of its role in capitalism, science has been used to oppress people. Social Darwinism and scientific racism were used to justify the exploitation and colonization of people of color. Eugenics used notions about genetics to justify segregation, forced sterilization, forced abortions, institutionalization, and euthanasia. The knowledge and experiences of women, Native Americans, African Americans, poor people, immigrants, and other oppressed groups is routinely ignored as emotional, irrational, backwards, or foolish. Science hasn’t been used in kind ways. Psychologists have classified some groups as deviant or sick. Until 2012, being transgender was considered a mental illness. Today, only gender dysphoria is listed as an illness. Homosexuality was viewed as a mental illness until 1973. Members of those groups may feel a certain antagonism to the science that has classified them as sick. African American men were lied to and denied treatment for syphilis so that the progression of the disease could be understood in the famous Tuskegee syphilis experiment. Many marginalized groups such as racial minorities, prisoners, and the mentally ill, have been experimented upon. In the 1800s, medical institutions arose and monopolized professions and knowledge that was once more democratically available. If there is some hostility towards science, it is quite understandable considering this history.

To return to the March for Science, these sentiments should in no way diminish the importance of this march. Scientists need to march. They need to stand up for science that promotes social justice. Science is not neutral. It is very political. Neutrality is political. A better world is possible and science can help us achieve a better world. Just as science has been a tool of capitalists, it can be a tool of the masses. The sentiment of the march was that science should be used for creating a greener, safer, healthier, easier life for everyone. To this end, I hope that scientists and supporters of science acknowledge the dark aspects of science’s role in capitalism. I hope that oppressed groups can feel welcomed by future events and that their experiences and knowledge contribute to a full understanding of our world. If “scienceism” emerges as a social movement, I hope that it is called to task in the same way that the Women’s March and feminist movement has. I also hope that protest continues to be viewed as a legitimate response to social problems. At the same time, I do not think that science itself will liberate us. It would be helpful if everyone believed in climate change, as this would shift the discourse from “is it real” to “what can be done?” However, the “what can be done” that is promoted by mainstream institutions will always serve capitalism. It will never take us beyond market and individual solutions. We could collectively buy electric cars or green lightbulbs. We can compost and recycle as the world continues on its path towards the next mass extinction. The warm response to the protest indicates to me that the powers that be are not particularly afraid of science. They are mildly afraid of millions of women in pussy hats and extremely afraid of militant Black people.Protests should be fun. There should be snappy slogans. I am up for whatever it takes to make it appealing and normal to the broadest and most diverse segments of society. This should be done with the hope of pushing for bigger, better, more intersectional, more revolutionary actions. In the end, the goal of any social movement should be to create fear of the unyielding power of the masses. This may or may not involve hats.

Orniscaching?: Birding and Geocaching

H. Bradford

4/17/17

This weekend I went on a Feminist Frolic and tried geocaching for the first time. I downloaded an app to my phone and found one awesome, mushroom shaped cache with our group. The event was a Cache in Trash out event, so we also collected some garbage from the park as part of the adventure. It was a fun time. Although it seems that there is a lot of jargon and rules regarding geocaching, I am eager to continue with this new found hobby. I think that the best thing about this activity is that it involves spending time outdoors while investigating nature for a hidden world of secret treasures. I was surprised to see how many caches appeared on the map of Superior. To think that all this time there have been hidden items all around me! I also like the collective and individual nature of the activity. Geocaching creates a sense of community, since many people have visited the same site in pursuit of the same time. The community is evident by the logbook and online logs about the site. The activity also builds community since it can be done in groups and appeals to all ages. As for the individual aspect, it can also be done solo, as I did today. So, it can feel like an individual quest to follow in the path of many others to a common destination.

After trying the activity for the first time on Saturday, I decided that I would head out on a birding + geocaching adventure. Adam decided that he was interested in coming along, so we headed to Cloverland, WI to the Roy Johnson Wetlands. I also wanted to visit the Davidson Windmill to try to find a cache. So, we set out on an adventure to the rural areas outside of Superior.

Early on, I became quite frustrated. I soon learned that it is very hard to operate a car, a camera, and the geocaching app on my phone. I also learned that there is very spotty cellphone reception in that area. I hadn’t downloaded the maps for geocaching which made this aspect of the adventure impossible. I was angry at myself, since I wanted to try out my new activity. I also became angry because I saw various hawks on wires and flying over the farmland. However, they either flew away before I could identify them or I was unable to stop. Adam wasn’t keen on the slow driving and stop and go, as he wanted to head to Cloverland. I was unhappy with trying to juggle driving, birding, and caching. In any event, I passed up several birds on the way to the Windmill. Thankfully, my phone sort of worked at the Windmill, but after milling about for 20 minutes, I failed to find the cache. This was a very bad start to our journey and heralded the end of my attempt to geocache. Instead, I would focus on birds.

We traveled to Cloverland and went on a short hike, but didn’t spot any birds. We continued down a dirt road past an old barn, where Adam said he’d seen an owl in the past. Adam spotted a dark, moving object in a tree near the barn. This was hopeful! However, it turned out to be a porcupine. The porcupine lifted my spirits a bit, and we continued onward. Our drive did not yield any unusual birds, but we pushed on towards the Roy Johnson Wetlands.

Not far from the wetlands was a trail or narrow road, which ascended a muddy hill. We hiked up the hill and our luck with birding changed. The top of the hill featured a small pond with a nesting goose. The road was flanked by scraggy bushes, where small birds flitted back and forth. They were too quick for me, but I managed to photograph a robin and a dark eyed junco. By then, the sun was setting, so our time was limited. A large hawk flew by, keeping low to the ground as it hugged the curves of the marshy landscape. I captured a blurry photo of what appeared to be a light gray hawk with a white underside. I believe that it was a Northern Harrier hawk. Finally, as we continued a little further down the trail I spotted what looked like a chickadee with a yellow bottom! Of course, this little bird did not turn around, so I had a hard time determining what it was. My best guess is that it was a yellow-rumped warbler. Spotting these two birds redeemed the adventure, though by then I was already over my earlier frustration over my lack of organization and inability to juggle my activities. I decided that I would try geocaching + birding the next day!

Today, I woke up and realized it was cold and windy out. This put a damper on my outdoor adventures until the late afternoon. Once the sun peeked out and the wind seemed less intimidating, I hurried to Park Point…determined to make geocaching and birding work. I set out alone and on foot, which is the key to balancing these two hobbies. It also helped that I had cellphone reception. With my bird books, camera, and phone, I started hiking! The hike was pleasant and birds were plentiful. Several birds of prey flew overhead. However, they were too fast for me to identify. One was quite large with dark banding under the wings. I am new at identifying birds, so this usually involves photographing birds and then comparing them to the bird guides. I admired the birds as they passed by, then continued into the woods. I spotted a red-breasted nuthatch and then a quick moving bird that bounced from branch to branch and tree to tree. I spent quite a while observing it, trying to photograph it and commit its features to memory. The bird had a bright yellow crown and solid white or gray stomach. Its eyes were masked with a black stripe. I assumed that it might be some kind of warbler. There are numerous warblers and I don’t really know how to identify any of them. However, using the bird guide, it seems that the bird most closely resembled a golden-crowned kinglet.

Near where I spotted the golden-crowned kinglet was a cache. I looked around, but did not find it. However, there were several more up the trail, so I continued. Along the way, I found two caches. This was great! But, I failed to find a third cache further up the trail. As I had a meeting at 5:30 pm, I hurried along, trying to find one more cache before I had to turn around. I managed to find one more, but failed to find one more for lack of time. With that, I turned around and hurried back to my car. The hike back yielded two more birds of prey. One of them had distinct black wing tips on its underside and a head that was darker gray than the rest of its body. Its underside appeared to be lightly barred. I was confused, but I think it may have been another Northern harrier hawk. Finally, I saw one last bird of prey at the top of a conifer. It was smaller than the others and of course, hard to see. I moved around to try to view it from different angles. It may have been a female merlin, but I can’t know for sure. I also spotted a common merganser.

Prior to Saturday, I did a little birding at WI Point and Loon’s Foot landing. Many of the ducks I had seen in the previous weeks have seemingly moved along. I did capture a picture of a female cardinal though.

In all, it seems that geocaching and birding compliment each other. In both activities, I am searching for something. Both have highs and lows. It is certainly disappointing to miss a cache. It is also frustrating when I struggle to identify birds as they are too quick or I am just not skilled enough. However, these struggles make identifying a new bird or finding a cache all the more exciting! I know that some people do both activities at the same time, but oddly, there is no name for it (that I saw online anyway!). Since geocaching seems to have developed its own language, I think I will call it orniscaching!

Trashy Women: What does Garbage Have to do with Feminism?

H. Bradford

4/14/17

Each month the Feminist Justice League (formerly the Twin Ports Women’s Rights Coalition) hosts a feminist frolic. The goal of these events are to build community, educate one another, grow in our feminism, and enjoy the outdoors. Our frolics are not well attended, but I think they are worthwhile since they challenge me to educate myself and others. This month, we will be doing geocaching and trash collection at a local park. This is a great way to learn how to geocache while engaging in environmentally focused volunteerism. However, I was uncertain about the educational component of the activity. I wanted to connect trash collection with feminism, which honestly, is not a topic that I have ever given any consideration. Thus, this essay is an attempt to unify feminism with trash.

Trash in the Context of Capitalism:

First of all, it is useful to frame the problem. Each person in the United States produces about 4.3 pounds of solid waste a day, amounting to 243 million tons a year. Of this, in 2009, 1.5 pounds of waste per person per day was recycled (Pearson, Dawson, and Breitkopf, 2012). The United States produces the most waste of any country in the world. Though, waste production and disposal is a global problem. The more industrialized and urbanized a country becomes, the more waste it produces. For instance, before 1980 in Katmandu, Nepal, 80% of household waste was derived from kitchen waste. This was disposed of through composting pits. With increased urbanization and industrialization, there has been an increase of non-compostable waste, but the country lacks the waste management infrastructure to attend to it. Thus, it ends up in rivers, roadsides, and vacant lots (Bushell and Goto, 2006). Similarly, owing to increased development and economic growth, China has become the second largest producer of waste in the year. China has a population that is four times greater than that of the United States, but still produces less waste. While we produce over 250 million tons of waste by some estimates, China produces 190 million tons. Although China produces the second most amount of waste, it is important to note that like Nepal, much of that waste is food waste. In China, 70% of the waste that is produced is food waste. Typically, in developed countries, about 20% of waste is food waste (Van Kerckhove, 2012). Thus, it can generally be said that the United States produces a lot of waste, as all developed countries do. Development can be connected to waste production. At the same time, as a country develops, the type of waste it produces changes from mostly food wastes to other wastes.

It may be easy to blame development itself on the production of waste, but this is not entirely true. Waste is the outcome of development within capitalism. Consider for a moment that U.S. supermarkets throw away 2.5 million tons of food a year. This number is obscene, considering that many people in our country go hungry or lack access to food. Why would so much food go to waste? Capitalist production seeks to produce value. This sounds a bit complicated, but consider that everything is given value from labor. Labor is invested into the production of everything, though because of alienation from labor, the labor that went into each product or service is fairly invisible to most of us. In strictly Marxist economic sense, the value of something is the amount of labor that went into the production of something. Thus, an apple’s value could be expressed in minutes or hours of labor invested in caring for the apple tree, picking the apple, shipping the apple, or arranging the apple in the produce section at a store. All of the food at a grocery store that is thrown away, certainly has use value to the hungry, but also value in the generic labor sense. Throwing out food means discarding the labor that went into it. This seems terribly inefficient in the sense that people go hungry and that this seems to squander labor. But, capitalism is a system that really doesn’t care about hunger or waste. Capitalist production is entirely geared towards valoration or the accumulation of capital. Again, this is a little complicated. Valorization entails trying to extract more value from labor by increasing production. All profits come from the excess surplus value from labor. By producing more, a capitalist hopes to extract more profits from labor. The bottom line is that meeting human needs is not the goal of capitalist production, the goal is profits. Since acquiring more profits from surplus value requires more production, capitalist production results in a wasteful treadmill of production. That is, in the interest of profits, the economy produces more than what can be sold. What can’t be sold is discarded as waste. Most products are not recycled, not because people choose not to recycle, but because recycling is not profitable. This is because recycling may involve costly inputs (constant capital) and the end product may not be made into a commodity that is sought after or imbued with as much value as the original commodity (Yates, 2015). In short, one way that capitalism seeks to increase profits is through more production and all of this production creates waste. Recycling of waste is not always profitable, due to such things as costly capital inputs and diminished value. This is why as countries develop within capitalism, they produce more waste.

Another aspect of capitalist development is that not all countries develop equally. Almost all of the world was colonized by a few European countries. Colonies developed economies that supported the development of their colonial masters by providing cheap raw materials, cash crop economies, export based economies, markets for goods, cheap labor, etc. After these colonies fought for and gained their independence, they remained dependent on their former colonial masters through institutions such as the WTO, World Bank, and IMF, as well as fair trade agreements and military interventions. These systems have stymied development in former colonies. At the same time, capitalism itself makes development challenging since these countries must compete with the already highly advanced economies of former colonial powers. It is no wonder then that more than half of the world’s population does not have access to waste collection (Simmons, 2016). In much of the world, impoverished people make a living from rubbish. In Beijing alone, 160,000- 200,000 people work as scavengers, who pick through the trash in search of recyclables they can sell. While China is the second largest producer of waste, is also the world’s largest waste importer, importing all of the waste paper products from the east coast of the United States and ⅓ of the UK’s recyclables. In turn, the United States imports 11.6 million tons of recycled paper and cardboard from China (Van Kerckhove, 2012). This phenomenon represents a few aspects of capitalism. Once again, capitalism is extremely wasteful if it is actually more profitable to ship recyclables back to China to be shipped back to the United States. Secondly, capitalism creates a lot of “have nots” in the world. These “have nots” survive from the waste produced in our country and their own.

How are these countries faring today?

Capitalism produces both waste and poverty. Poverty and waste intersect in terrible ways. For instance, uranium was mined on Navajo lands to produce nuclear weapons during the Cold War. The nuclear waste was not disposed of properly and resulted in contamination of land, increased rates of cancer, and birth defects. Various studies have found that Native American are more impacted by pollution than other groups. For example, Native Americans are more likely to live by toxic waste dumps, have their communities be targeted as sites for nuclear waste disposal facilities, and live near superfund sites than other groups (Lynch, 2014). Owing to the long history of genocide, racism, trauma, and the fact that one in four Native Americans live in poverty, they have less political and economic power to fight the outsourcing of pollution to their land and fight corporate power. All poor people, ethnic minorities, and other oppressed groups are less valued in society, have less power, and are more likely to face the negative environmental consequences of capitalism.

Another way that poverty intersects with waste is that waste recycling generates income to low income individuals, which puts them at risk of exposure to pollutants. One example of this has been the boom in electronic waste. Electronics is one of the fastest growing types of waste in the world. Although it only accounts for 5% of municipal waste, it is the most lucrative kind of waste because it can yield iron, gold, silver, copper, aluminum and rare earth metals. Thus, e-waste recycling appeals to impoverished people in need money. At the same time, the recycling process can expose workers to lead, mercury, flame retardants, and plastic chemicals. The chemicals, elements, and compounds in e-waste are known to impact brain development in children and overall lifespan, thereby wrecking not only the health of the workers but their children and communities. Once again, global inequalities shape where e-waste ends up, as the United States is the number one producer of e-waste but China and Africa end up with 80% of the world’s used electronics. There are often fewer waste and labor regulations in many of these countries. At the same time, there are incentives to have fewer regulations since it makes the labor cheaper and economic conditions more appealing to foreign investors (Heacock, Kelly, Kwadwo Ansong, Birnbaum, Bergman, Bruné, and Sly, 2016).

Poor people and poor countries are often blamed for environmental problems. Environmentalists often blame population growth on environmental problems. As such, it is easy to look to the large populations of the less developed world and see future car owners, fast food eaters, and mall shoppers. It can’t be Christmas everyday and certainly not all over the world! It is easy to look at the developing world and see waste and pollution. In the United States, our garbage is collected by professionals and carted away to some place out of the sight of most middle class white people. Elsewhere, more than 40% of the world’s garbage ends up in illegal or unregulated waste dumps (Simmons, 2016). Sometimes poor people or people from the developing world are blamed for not disposing of trash properly, perhaps because of lack of environmental education. However, in a study of 1,512 Hispanic women living in southern Texas, the women who were less acculturated, which was measured by a self-report of use of English at home, with friends, with children, etc. were more likely to be engaged in recycling. Researchers believed that perhaps this is because the women were more engaged in informal recycling in their home country, such as sharing clothes or recycling bottles for vases. It is also possible that they are more aware of environmental problems that they were exposed to in their home country (Pearson, Dawson, and Breitkopf, 2012). This is one small study, but it should be used to dispel the idea that white people of the developed world are more enlightened about the environment. We are the ones creating the most waste, despite our smaller population. Again, the problem is production not population.

To summarize these points thus far, capitalism is driven by profits rather than health and human needs. It is also driven towards production in the interest of generating more profits. This is inherently wasteful. Not only is capitalism wasteful, it creates and supports inequalities on the basis of race, gender, sexuality, age, ability, etc. It also creates and supports inequalities between entire nations, in which a few countries are highly developed, but the vast majority exist on the periphery as supports to more advanced economies. Poor people and poor nations are more likely to endure the negative consequences of the world’s waste, even if they are not the world’s biggest producers of waste. As a final point on the topic of capitalism, it is important to note that many environmentalists blame consumers and consumerism for the amount of waste. Certainly consumers do play a role in buying and discarding products. However, this framework ignores capitalist production, which arguably seeks endless productive growth and by extension, endless waste. Products themselves are not designed to be long lasting or durable. This phenomenon is called planned obsolescence and means that production will always chug along because nothing lasts, parts can’t be replaced, and nothing remains trendy in capitalism. Planned obsolescence is not a term invented by anti-capitalists, but by capitalists themselves who noted that production must continue to avoid economic stagnation. Goods are created to be replaced. This is why a car only lasts for 150,000 – 200,000 miles. It is not because it is impossible to design a better car, but that the effort to design such a car is not incentivized by capitalism. It is better to produce a car that lasts a few years and then must be replaced by a newer model. In addition to the waste generated by the drive towards more and new products, corporations spend trillions of dollars on advertising to convince people to buy things. This results in wasteful products, packages, ads, and production. Finally, while consumer waste is astounding, it pales in comparison to industrial waste and military waste. Household waste only makes up 2.5% of U.S. solid waste. 97.5% of the waste actually comes from businesses and the government (Butler, 2011). The military plays an important role in destroying competitors, opening up new markets, consuming products, providing jobs, silencing countries and groups who do not agree with our way of things, and other functions that help capitalism continue. It can easily be said that the production of waste is not only a side effect of capitalism, it is in many ways central to its functioning.

Trash in the Context of Patriarchy:

Today, the Feminist Justice League is collecting trash. I would like to dissect that for a moment to understand the role of patriarchy in all of this. I have already established that capitalism creates waste and that minorities and poor people are affected more by this than groups with more power. At the same time, globally and in the United States, women are more likely to be poor than men. Women have less social and political power and are less valued in society. Because of oppression, women are also more susceptible to the negative impacts of waste. For instance, Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs are flame retardant compounds used in construction, electronics, motor vehicles, furniture, etc. They have a tendency to accumulate up the food chain, resulting in higher levels of PBDEs in human beings. As such, the European Union and United States have banned the use of some of these compounds. This is not the case in the developing world, again, because of global economic pressures which reward government deregulation in lower income countries. It is estimated that 20-50 million tons of electronic waste is produced throughout the world each year. A single electronics recycling plant in Taizhou, China dismantles over two million tons of electronics alone and employs over 40,000 people. As a result, snails, mud, poultry, plants, and the air around the facility had significantly high levels of PBDE’s. When researchers took breast milk samples from women living near the facility between 2012 and 2013, they found that their PBDE levels were twice as high as samples from developed countries, higher than other parts of China, and even higher than women living near other recycling plants. Infants exposed to higher levels of PBDEs can have reduced memory and motor functions (Li, Tian, Ben, and Lv, 2017). In China, migrant workers from rural areas and ethnic minorities are groups often involved in this kind of labor. However, in India, women of the Dalit caste may find themselves living near waste sites or engaged in recycling. Women are the lowest of the low in both social contexts, so they are more likely to find themselves doing low paying, highly exploited work. In addition to problems that infants exposed to chemicals face, women may experience fertility issues, cancer in reproductive organs, autoimmune disease, and spontaneous abortion if exposed to heavy metals, flame retardants, and other toxins (Mcalister, Mcgee, and Hale, 2014). Pollution itself has also been linked to the shortening of telomeres. Telomeres appear at the end of strands of DNA and serve the function of protecting chromosomes. Traffic pollution, fine particles, and smoking is linked to shorter telomeres. Telomeres naturally shorten with age, but pollution accelerates this process. In a study of 50 blood samples collected from pregnant women (controlling for age) living in a polluted area near Naples Italy compared to 50 samples from a less polluted area in Avellino, Italy, found that the women near Naples had shorter telomeres. Telomere shortening has been connected to the aging process and to cancer (De Felice, Nappi, Zizolfi, Guida, Sardo, Bifulco, and Guida, 2012). In sum, women are certainly impacted by the waste in the environment, especially when gender compounds with class, ethnicity, or caste in the case of India. Because women have less economic power, they may have less access to health care. Finally, women are responsible for producing the next generation of human beings. Unhealthy women may give birth to unhealthy babies or may be unable to reproduce at all. Historically and in many parts of the world, a woman is valued for her reproductive ability. Fertility issues compromise the already shaky position of women.

Within the United States, women are less likely to work directly with waste management. In fact, feminists who demand equality to men are sometimes told that they really don’t want equality as this means they will have to do hard, dirty work, like garbage collection. Within the United States, men tend to dominate this field. In New York City, there are 7,000 trash collectors. As of 2008, 200 were women. These women were honored during Women’s History Month and at least one had been working as a garbage collector for thirty years (Horan, 2008). American women may not be socialized to look at garbage collection as a career, or perhaps, since it is viewed as a male dominated space, women are less likely to apply to those jobs. Nevertheless, women are perfectly capable and willing to do this kind of hard work. For example, Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, has an all female garbage collection team. The women drive trucks, but must also lift heavy garbage cans as the job is not as mechanized as in the U.S.. The women were hired as part of an initiative to attain gender equality among various sectors of the economy and serve the area of Warren Park, a low income community within Harare. The women seemingly took pride in their work and reported they were treated well because of their good customer service and that they were not harassed by their male counterparts (All women garbage collection team cleans up Harare, n.d.). The picture is not as rosy for women and girls in Mogadishu, Somalia. Two decades of instability left the country unable to institute basic governance over such things as garbage collection. The federal government formed in 2012 sought to tackle the massive amount of garbage that amassed over the years of chaos. To this end, it hired private contractors to clean the garbage. Most of the people hired by these private companies are women and girls. They are regularly sexually harassed and harangued as they work. For instance, they are told that they should be cleaning their homes, not the streets. The women may begin work at 5 pm and end work after 9 in the morning. They are paid $3 a day for their work and if they do not work hard enough, their supervisor may deduct $1 from their pay. In November 2008, a bomb planted near a pile of trash took the lives of 21 women street cleaners (Mogadishu’s unsung garbage collectors, 2016). Even under the threat of violence and constant harassment, the women dutifully worked as there were few job opportunities available to them.

Around the world, women play a unique role in waste management, even if this is not always evident in paid labor. For instance, women are often in charge of household waste disposal, as they are more likely to manage household chores such as cooking and cleaning. Women are often important consumers of products, as they may conduct shopping on behalf of the family. This can determine the kinds of waste that a household produces. Women often socialize children and are involved in education, which means that they play a role in promoting and passing on social values, such as recycling. Globally, women participate in the economy as waste pickers, sweepers, and domestic workers but are less likely than men to have secure, full time employment in waste management. Women have also been more involved than men in grassroots initiatives in solid waste management, perhaps because waste has a greater impact on their role in the household(Beall, n.d.). As example of this, women in Kathmandu Nepal noticed all of the trash that was accumulating in their city and started up a project called Women for Sustainable Development. One of their projects was a waste management initiative which encouraged paper recycling and pressured shop owners to move away from plastic bags (Bushell and Goto, 2006). Similarly, in 1997, a small group of women from Dzilam de Bravo in Mexico organized to begin collecting trash and seaweed from the beaches in an organization called Las Costeras. They wanted to beautify the beaches for tourists and turn the seaweed into compost, which they could sell to farmers. By 2011, the group had inspired other coastal garbage collection organizations, involving over 400 participants. The women receive small sums of money from the government for their work and also receive vegetables from farmers. However, the women expressed that they felt stigmatized by others, since it was dirty work. The soil of the Yucatan Peninsula is made of karst limestone and very permeable, so their composting project has actually helped to improve agriculture (Buechler and Hanson, 2015). There are many similar examples of women all over the world who have organized in their community to clean up garbage and recycle trash into art, jewelry, or purses that they can sell.

Not only are women more vulnerable to environmental problems, studies suggest that women may be more involved in more formal and informal environmental activism than men. This is despite the fact that women have more barriers to involvement in activism in general, due to unequal pay with men and the unequal burden of unpaid labor. Historically, women have been more involved in environmental activism than other kinds of activism. Research has also suggested that women are more likely to be concerned about the environment than men. Women are socialized to care for their families and be nurturing, which may lend itself to greater concern for the environment. Of course, gender inequalities do shape how women choose to engage in activism. In a survey of British Colombia women involved in three social movement organizations, researchers found that women were more engaged in the organizations. The women were more likely than men to engage in recycling at home, plant trees, reuse items, compost, avoid disposable cups, buy environmentally friendly cleaning products, buy organic produce, and conserve energy. Men did outscore women in a few areas, such as being more likely to bike or walk to work, recycling at work, and helping to maintain nature reserves or parks. Men were more likely to sign petitions, attend protests, attend an educational lecture, do a lecture, attend a community meeting, and write letters to politicians, though women were more likely to engage in more individual activity such as donating money to organizations or buying their products. The study found that women were more engaged in environmentally friendly behaviors, but less involved in social movement activities. Perhaps the women did not have as many opportunities to engage in community activism or did not feel confident in taking a public role in their environmentalism (Tindall, Davies, and Mauboules, 2003).

It seems that women may take a more lifestyle approach to their activism. A 2012 UK Survey found that single women recycle more than men. 70% of women were engaged in environmentally friendly waste disposal as opposed to 58% of single men. 80% of couples engaged in environmentally friendly waste disposal, though women were believed to be the catalyst behind this activity. This may be because of the gendered division of labor in which women are more likely to wash out cans, remove lids, and sort waste. Buying and cooking food consists of 60% of household waste and is traditionally done by females (Levy, 2012). In another study, data collected from 22 nations through the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) was analyzed to understand how gender shapes self-reported environmental engagement. The study found that women were significantly more likely to engage in environmentally minded behaviors such as recycling and driving less. All individuals in the study were more likely to be engaged in private environmental behaviors than social activism. Even in lower GNI countries, women were more engaged in private environmental behaviors. In higher GNI, this becomes more pronounced as women had more ability to engage in these behaviors (Hunter, Hatch, and Johnson, 2004). Thus, it can be concluded that women are on a daily basis more engaged in lifestyle activism. It is alarming that both men and women prefer not to engage in social movement activism and if they do, men are more engaged in this. Social movement building is important in challenging the structures of patriarchy and capitalism which create waste, environmental destruction, and social stratification to begin with.

The fact that we chose to collect trash as a feminist group aligns with the norms of being female. It is a nice gesture. It is a nice way to beautify our city. But, the lesson that should be drawn from all of this is that the problem of waste is global and systemic. Small groups of volunteers can certainly play a small role in making the world a better place, but to truly make the world a better place, we need to challenge the logic of capitalist production. There will always be more waste to pick up since capitalism creates waste in pursuit of profits. The most vulnerable groups in society will always be impacted the most by waste. Social movement activism is important to realizing our collective power to challenge capitalism. No amount of recycling, buying organic, or composting will overthrow capitalism. These are good things and should not be shunned, but they do not challenge how capitalism operates. Capitalism operates globally, perpetuating war, inequality, and environmental destruction. Protests, petitions, strikes, boycotts, educational events, etc. are all tools that should be in our activist tool box. Feminists should support and unite with other social movements such as anti-racist movements, movements for indigenous rights, and the environmental movement, as each of these challenge capitalism in their own way and we are stronger if we work together. Picking up trash is fine, but the goal should be to throw capitalism into the dustbin of history.

Bird Nerding Notes: Early April

H. Bradford

4/10/17

I’ve been out quite a bit in the past few weeks in pursuit of birds. One adventure was with my mother, but I’ve been trying to go out daily for at least some birding. I’ve checked out Wisconsin Point, the Western Waterfront Trail, and Loons Foot Landing for birds and all three of them have yielded some new birds for my list. It has been an exciting adventure, as it has helped me to realize all of the birds that are around me that I never really noticed before. Like I’ve noted before, it is like an endless scavenger hunt.

Wisconsin Point:

My first adventure on Wisconsin Point yielded one new species. I found some common mergansers close to shore. Of course, they were quick to swim away, but it was neat to see a new bird. I visited for several days in a row, noting many common mergansers, even if they were far away from the shore. Because the birds are pretty shy, it is no wonder that I have never noticed them in all of the years that I have visited Wisconsin point. Otherwise, a large flock of seagulls had assembled on a sheet of ice, which slowly melted over the course of a week. I am not experienced enough to identify different species of seagulls, which all look pretty similar to me. Among the seagulls were some immature bald eagles.

Western Waterfront Trail:

The Western Waterfront Trail yielded several other species of birds. Again, the birds were spotted from a distance and only identified by zooming in on the photos I had taken. I noted a Common golden eye and Hooded merganser while hiking along the trail. Again, the birds were shy and even though I was quite a distance away from them, they were quick to move along. I hike on the Western Waterfront Trail dozens of times during the year but have never noticed these birds before. I hiked the trail later in the week and again spotted a flotilla of these same birds.

Loon’s Foot Landing:

My best birding has been at Loon’s Foot Landing in Superior. I have spotted Hooded mergansers, common mergansers, Northern shoveler, pied grebe, Common goldeneye, bufflehead ducks, Ring necked ducks, green winged teal, and what appeared to be Greater scaup. These waterfowl seem to enjoy hanging out together in a quiet corner behind some cattails. It makes photographing them a bit of challenge since they are safely tucked away quite a distance from the trail. I also saw my first Great blue heron of the season fly overhead.

Ring-necked duck

Pied-billed grebes

Green winged teal, Northern shoveler, and Ring necked duck

Hooded merganser

Beyond the waterfowl were some interesting passerine birds. While walking back to my car, I spotted what appeared to be a robin sized bird in the brush near the shore. I followed the bird, trying to get a closer look. It was quick and active, but finally slowed down long enough to take a photo. It turned out to be a fox sparrow, which was pretty neat. I am slowly learning different kinds of sparrows, which until this year all seemed like ordinary brown birds that didn’t warrant much attention. The Fox sparrow was unique because of its gray and rust colored plumage and its large size compared to other sparrows. When I was following it, I thought maybe it was a female red winged blackbird. Only with the help of the camera was I able to identify it. Since then, I have visited Loon’s Foot Landing almost daily. While I have mostly noted the same birds each day, today I happened to see an interesting bird on top of a tree. I assumed it might be a robin, but upon closer inspection it was gray in color with a sharp beak and black band by its eyes. The mysterious bird appeared to be a Northern shrike! These birds are interesting, since they are carnivorous song birds that impale their prey on barbed wire and thorns. The bird is not very large, but manages to use its sharp beak to kill smaller birds, rodents, insects, etc. The bird is nicknamed the butcher bird because it is known to store meat in holes or on wires. I have also seen a Northern flicker, Northern cardinals, chickadees, and red winged blackbirds at this spot.

Conclusion:

It has been fun going out and observing birds. I suppose that my friends have been a little bored, as I’ve dragged them along on some of my adventures. One of the most fun aspects of birding is the realization that there are all these interesting birds around us all of the time, but for years, they went unnoticed and unnamed. Learning to identify new birds is a bit like learning a new language. It opens up a whole new reality. It is the same with learning anything new. Learning to identify ferns, butterflies, amphibians, trees, etc. opens one up to the unique characteristics of the universe around us. The life around us is usually the backdrop of our own lives. It is just the setting, full of unnoticed extras. To know the names of birds, their habits, their songs, and that they were there all along…is a small peak into the vastness of our universe and the richness of the life of this planet.

Bird Nerding Notes: Birding with My Mother

H. Bradford

4/10/17

My mother and I don’t spend that much time together. I keep a pretty busy schedule which doesn’t always align well with the schedules of others. But, last weekend we both went birding together. I wanted to visit Savannah Portage State Park and Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge for some birding adventures. I invited her along and since she wasn’t busy, we set off together for a Saturday of bird watching.

The day began with a drive to Wright, MN. It is only an hour from where I now live, but I only visit a few times a year. We went to what once was the Wright Place Cafe, which I hadn’t eaten at in over a decade. I was a waitress there for a summer, back when I was 19 years old. In a way, it is surreal returning to where I grew up since it is very foreign to me, yet near. I feel like a ghost. That I was never really there at all, since the person I am now is so distant from that past self. There are so many years between us. Following breakfast, we set out on our birding adventure.

Our first sighting was just outside of Tamarack, MN. We noticed a grayish, hawk-like bird on a power line, overlooking two pastures. I turned the car around to get a closer look. Unfortunately, this scared the bird away. After a careful pursuit, I managed to get a photograph of the unknown bird. The zoom capacity of my camera is not that great, but it is enough to aid in the identification of birds (even if the photos themselves are not that wonderful). We flipped back and forth between the camera image and our bird book. Finally, we determined it was an American Kestrel. I wrote it down in my little notebook.

Our journey continued towards Savannah Portage State Park. The road wound around various lakes, where we caught sight of swans. However, the shoulder was too narrow and the ditch to deep to stop and look at the swans. My mother promised that I would see swans later, but it was frustrating to have to pass up so many of them along the way! Finally, we arrived at the state park. I bought a sticker for the year and a patch (I am collecting state park patches). What should I do with my collection of patches? My mother suggested that I could sew them onto a jacket, which I wear for my state park adventures. This seems extremely nerdy, but also like something I might actually do. I like having special apparel for various occasions.

Savannah Portage State Park did not have many birds. The small lakes in the park were still frozen and it was the middle of the day by the time we arrived. We went on a short hike by a lake and over a bog walk. This was neat, since we found frozen pitcher plants and overturned trees (from the storm last summer). I would like to visit again during the summer.

We drove around Big Sandy Lake, spotting more swans. In 1850, Sandy Lake was the site of a massacre of Native Americans. Although I never learned this in school (and grew up just 30-40 min away), over 200 Ojibwe died there from illness, starvation, and cold. They were told to go there to receive their yearly annuity payment and supplies from the BIA, which arrived late and in short supply. There is a small plaque memorializing the events at a rest area along Highway 65. This is a reminder that the area really doesn’t belong to settlers, even though it serves as a recreational area today.

After stopping at the Dairy Queen in McGregor, we continued on to Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge. This is where we spotted many birds. Our first encounter was on a small bridge, where we saw various ducks. Of course, the ducks were shy and quickly scattered. I used my camera to try to hone in on some of the distant waterfowl. There were some unique sightings. The first sighting was a duck with a light gray colored back, dark head, and black chest. This was hard to identify and we wrongly identified it as a canvasback. However, after re-examining the photos, it was actually a Greater scaup (or it could be a lesser scaup?). The duck had a blue bill and yellow eye. It was my first time identifying a Greater scaup. Another duck, was a small, black and white duck which frequently dove underwater. We identified it as a bufflehead. This is the first time that I have identified one since I began birding.

We explored the many lakes and roads of the wildlife refuge. Interestingly, when we were stopped on the bridge, a friendly Native American man on a makeshift motorbike stopped by to invite us to watch him make maple syrup. We didn’t take him up on the offer, but he said that there was a group of people making syrup in the park. Even though the refuge is mostly used for recreation and bird watching, it was also a reminder that it also has cultural significance. The park is still used by Native Americans for harvesting wild rice, which as the name suggests, grows in the lakes of the area. The park also features burial mounds which may date back to as far as 1000 BC.

On Rice Lake itself, we spotted bald eagles, trumpeter swans, various ducks, a muskrat, and an Eastern bluebird perched nearby. We heard whooping cranes from somewhere in the area. The ducks were too far away to identify, but the area was teeming with life and I finally was able to see the swans!

We returned to my mother’s house about 20 minutes away. Near her home, we spotted a killdeer and a turkey. The turkey was quick to escape my camera, so I only obtained a photo of its rump. We also saw two more trumpeter swans on School House Lake near her house.

Overall, it was a fun day. Birding can actually be tiring, since there are highs and lows. It is definitely a high to see a bird that I haven’t recorded before. The fact that birds move quickly or might be too far away to identify is a low. It also requires some degree of focus and vigilance, since birds can appear anywhere and may be hard to spot. By the end of the day, I was tired!

Consuming Feminism: The Abusive Touch of the Invisible Hand

H. Bradford

4/2/17

In full disclosure of my consumerist hypocrisy, I have a few t-shirts with feminist themes on them and a pair of Karl Marx sneakers. The shirts were free leftovers from political events, but I probably would have bought them anyway. All of these items were probably made in a sweatshop with the hyper exploited labor of mostly female garment workers. Thus, what I write is not from some high and holy place. It is meant to provide some sort of framework for understanding feminism and consumerism. This understanding is meant to be tactical for social movement building rather than a personal attack or call for confessions of consumerist sins. I sin. We all sin. Personal mistakes are inevitable and unavoidable. Social movement mistakes have more weight as it represents a collective error. Of course, social movements also make mistakes. One mistake is the embrace of feminist consumerism. While this was not part of the official organizing suggestions of the International Women’s Strike USA, some feminists promoted the tactic of patronizing women owned businesses on March 8th. Some feminists believe that by buying certain products, they are promoting a better society. I don’t wish to shame those feminists, but I do want to make an argument against that tactic. The following is why I am against feminist consumerism:

The Myth of Consumer Sovereignty:

Many activists believe that we vote with our dollars. However, like American democracy, market place democracy is a rigged system! The argument that we vote with our dollars assumes that we enjoy consumer sovereignty, or control over supply and demand. We lack full consumer sovereignty because supply and demand is confounded by such things as advertisement and government policy. The items that appear in the market place, our knowledge of them, our desire for them, and our ability to obtain them are all variables that we have less control over than we think. For instance, when we go to the store, we probably find one or two varieties of potatoes. These varieties are cultivated because they have desirable qualities such as durability, pest resistance, size, uniformity, or long shelf life. If we want a variety of purple potatoes or Russian fingerling potatoes, we may not find these at an ordinary grocery store. If we do, they may be more expensive because they are grown on a smaller scale or are harder to grow. Only those with more money, more time to search for this desired item, and knowledge can afford these specialty potatoes. And while, perhaps they are grown locally or non-GMO, the world is probably no better a place because of the purchase of these potatoes because the purchase of the potatoes does not, in isolation, challenge systems of globalization, environmental problems from industrial agriculture, etc. Further, this trend could influence companies to begin growing more of these potatoes, but may not challenge the working conditions or unjust systems under which they are produced. Justice materializes into the form of a potato, rather than the productive forces that go into the potato itself.

I think that this probably sounds confusing and my potato example may not have clarified this position. Basically, according to Marxism, we are all alienated from our labor. This means we don’t have control over how things are produced, our workplace, and where the fruits of our production end up. A potato grower at an industrialized farm probably does not know where those potatoes go or have much control over the length of their hours, their working conditions, the way the potatoes are grown, their wages, etc. Likewise, when we go to a store, we see thousands of products, but because we are alienated from labor, we have no idea where, when, and how they were made. So, if you order an order of fries at McDonalds, you have no idea if you are consuming GMO potatoes, potatoes grown with pesticides that cause cancer, or potatoes from Idaho, Minnesota, or even another country! This is alienation. Because we are alienated from labor, we are never really fully free to make autonomous and empowered consumer choices. Even if we researched the conditions and source of McDonald’s french fries, we would find our self blindly ignorant about a million other consumer choices. Thus, when it comes to the market place, were are never really able to fully vote with our dollars, since we are always alienated from production.

The Myth of Small and Local:

Because we don’t really have control over production, activists often try to seek out trusted alternatives to corporations. To this end, they often try to buy items locally and from smaller producers. Now, this isn’t a terrible idea. When a person buys locally, they may be more aware of the production process. For instance, if you bought locally grown potatoes, you could talk to the farmer or see the farm itself. It also keeps money in a community. Further, there may be less environmental destruction involved in production, since shipping is not over a long distance and may use less chemicals or produce less waste. Thus, seeking out smaller scale, local sources can be a reasonable alternative to buying from larger corporations.

Nevertheless, buying local or small scale is not the panacea to our social problems. All businesses, large or small, seek profits. From a Marxist perspective, profit is derived from the surplus value of labor. Thus, the sweatshop worker who I assume made my sneakers may have been paid a few cents an hour. The shoes were much more expensive. The company that made the shoes did not pay the worker the full value of their labor. In fact, they paid them a minuscule amount and kept the rest as profit. At a local level, businesses also want to profit. This is why the local business community has come out against Earned Safe and Sick Time. This would cut into their profits. This is also why some businesses have been against the Homeless Bill of Rights. These businesses do not wish to have homeless people in their shops because they don’t want to scare of their costumers, which they think would diminish sales. This is also why it has been hard to think of companies to support the HOTDISH Militia’s abortion fundraiser. Vikyre, which came out for equal pay, was afraid to publicly support the fundraiser. Why? Perhaps they thought it was divisive and would scare off other consumers. Even well meaning businesses, such as the Northern Waters Smokehaus had to abandon its no tip policy and reduce the wage of wait staff in order to remain profitable. When given the choice between profitability and failure, a business will always choose profits. This, of course, always hurts workers. Finally, if there is the opportunity to do so, most local businesses would expand and grow. Every large corporation began somewhere. Some began as small businesses that made it big. The profit motive is inherently inhumane. It is inherently inhumane since profit represents the conversion of the life of workers into the wealth of business owners. The exchange rate in this conversion always favors the capitalist. Thus, it is certainly useful to patronize small or local businesses, but this tactic is not going to end capitalism or patriarchy. It may alleviate some of the worst excesses of the system, but it does not challenge the laws by which the system operates. Worse, when social movements call upon individuals to shop locally, it can create an illusion that local businesses are our friends. They aren’t. They are not for $15 minimum wage. They don’t want to offer more benefits to their workers. They don’t want homeless folks hanging out. They don’t want workers to take control of their business and decide for themselves how things should be done or how profits should be used.

The Myth of Labels:

Alienation makes production mysterious to us. One way to shed light on the mystery is labels. Labels are great. I want more labels. I like that it is an easy way to know the ingredients or nutrition value in a food item. It is an easy way to know where a shirt is made and what it is made of. It is a way to know if your tuna is dolphin free or your coffee is fair trade. I am for labeling GMOs. The more we know, the more capacity we have to make informed choices.

The main problem with labels is the false security they may provide and the way in which they reinforce the myth of consumer sovereignty. For instance, a person may be secure that their Starbucks coffee is fair trade. It has a label! But, the coffee could have been packaged by an inmate. There is no label for prison labor (which Starbucks has used in the past). Companies try to sell their products by shrouding themselves in labels and packaging such that is green “fair trade” “rainforest alliance” gluten free and breast cancer ribbons. Consider the recent debacle with Cheerios. The company was trying to market itself as concerned with bees, but in 2016 Cheerio’s tested positive for glyphosate, the bee killing pesticide produced by Monsanto. Critics also pointed out that some of the seeds that Cheerios provided are considered invasive or are not native to the U.S. Finally, critics also noted that the industrialized farming of cereal grains has destroyed bee habitat. The big idea here is that many companies know that people are mobilizing or at least aware of issues like environmental destruction, gender equality, globalization, cancer, etc. Labels and branding are used to attract consumers, but also to distract consumers from other unsavory business practices. I wrote about this before with the phenomenon of Trump washing. Nike came out against Trump. Suddenly, everyone loved Nike. Coming out against Trump is a way to seem progressive and draw attention away from sweatshop labor. Again, no company should be entirely trusted as all seek profits.

Tactics:

This piece may seem like it takes an impossible position. Obviously, we live in capitalism but we HAVE to buy something. Women must often shoulder the burden of both underpaid paid labor and under valued unpaid labor. While a person might be able to survive without buying, this would require a lot of labor!! Imagine weaving your own cloth, sewing your own clothes, producing and preserving your own food! The amount of time would not be realistic for most people. Further, it would force women to work harder at unpaid labor in the interest of usurping capitalism. Of course, there are benefits of making and growing or collecting and gleaning rather than buying – but these do not really have the collective economic power to liberate us from capitalist patriarchy.

I accept that some buying is inevitable. I accept that people should be mindful of what they buy, but that even this requires time, knowledge, and money. I accept that there are tactics related to buying that CAN be powerful. Collectively, we can engage in anti-buying campaigns. For instance, there are activists who are divesting their money from banks that support or benefit from the Dakota Access Pipeline. There are activists who supported boycott and divestment against apartheid South Africa. There are activists who currently support the same against apartheid in Israel. The labor movement often calls upon people to boycott companies which are not using union labor or to not patronize a business that is in the middle of a labor dispute. The International Women’s Day March called upon women to boycott sexist companies or avoid buying for the day. Boycotting and divestment is a useful tactic when it is collective and associated with a social movement. These movements use consumer power to collectively punish a business in the interest of creating social change rather than individually reward for doing something perceived as good.

Finally, the major flaw with consumer feminism is that it is focused on consumption rather than production. I get it. It is easier to focus on the consumer end of things. I can go to a store and as an individual choose what to buy. It is easy. The choice takes little time. With hope, others would do the same. However, consumer choices traps one in the logic of capitalism. It locks one into supply and demand and consumer sovereignty. It hopes that buy changing one company, the day will be saved. But, even if everyone chose to buy an organic, Whole Food co-op version of cheerios….and even if Cheerios went under…there would be other cereal brands and other issues with industrial agriculture. Capitalism is too massive and adaptive to be fought on its own terms and with its own rules. Thus, this is why ultimately tactics must be production centered. To this end, we must do the slow and tedious work of building the labor movement. Only when workers own and control the factories, fields, shops, schools, hospitals, etc. will we really have control of if and how things are produced. These choices can be thought of logically, with social and environmental good in mind. In the interim, we must support the struggles of workers for unions, greater autonomy, better wages, more benefits, etc. and connect these struggles to the struggles for racial, gender, sexual, disability, age, etc equality. The invisible hand will not liberate us. Capitalism is abusive to women. It is abusive to everyone who works. It is abusive to the planet.

Bird Nerd Notes: Early Spring Birding

H. Bradford

4/1/17

When I was a kid, I never had much interest in birds. My grandma Bradford kept a feeder, which was visiting by pine grosbeaks and evening grosbeaks. My grandpa Bradford would feed the ducks near his house old bread or cracked corn. My grandma Walli loved bluebirds. Growing up in the country and on a lake, birds were a part of rural life. Birds were interesting, but never caught my attention. Oddly enough, it was plants that captured my attention. I remember in the first and second grade, I would draw pictures of the plants that I found growing in the woods near my home. I folded these pages in half, making botanical guides. I wanted to be a botanist. Birds didn’t interest me much at all.

I enjoy trying new hobbies, so my new year’s resolution in 2016 was to try birding as a new hobby. I simply wanted to try something new and expand my knowledge into a new frontier. My first birding adventure was pretty lackluster. I went to Jay Cooke State Park for a New Year’s birding hike, but we only saw chickadees. However, later that month a wayward Ivory billed gull appeared in Duluth. I set out early one morning before my work meeting to try to find it. Spotting it and then being joined by other birders….all older people with fancy cameras and binoculars, was a neat experience. We were all there for the same thing…though me with a lot less gear. (I do have a camera and binoculars now, but certainly not expensive and i really, really wish I had more ability to zoom… ) I think what really cemented this hobby was my trip to Africa, where I saw over 150 species of birds. But, birding doesn’t have to involve travel or expensive gear. It can happen in the backyard or in nearby parks.

I am still learning to identify birds and I am not terribly studious in my approach. I treat this hobby more like an endless scavenger hunt. It is exciting to add new birds to my list. In the process of searching for birds, I learn more about them, how to identify them, when and where to find them, etc. So, it is experiential learning. It mostly involves seeing the swift departure of some unknown bird and the disappointment that I did not identify it in time. That happened to me several times today. But, when I do find a new bird, it is great! Sometimes, I see a bird, but I don’t have my binoculars or camera. Again, it is a missed opportunity! Another frustrating aspect of this hobby is that most people my age…are pretty indifferent to birds. So, I feel like a bird nerd…who prattles on about some bird that no one cares about. I have to monitor myself to make sure I don’t bore others or put them off with this hobby that they have no interest in.

No birds. The story of my March birding endeavors.

One thing that I have learned this month is that early March is sort of the doldrums of birding. Until this year, I never really paid attention to what birds are around and when. Sure, I always noticed the spring and fall migrations, but I never really paid that close attention to the patterns of bird life around me. In early March, I went to the Sax Zim Bog. This was the last weekend that the bird center there was open for the winter season. I had visited the center in mid-February. The contrast was stark. There were far fewer birds active during my my early March visit. I saw a single gray jay, in contrast to the many gray jays I saw in February. There were no more flocks of white winged cross bills. However, I did see some pine grosbeaks at a feeder on the way out of the birding area. Even though the birds were scarce, I enjoyed taking a snowy hike with my mother. It is too bad that the Sax Zim Bog is so remote. It takes about an hour to drive there and the roads are winding, dirt country roads. Still, it is a great place to go birding.

In mid-march, I went to St. Croix State Park. The goal was to try to do some birding, while reaching my OTHER new year’s resolution of visiting a few more new state parks. I have never visited St. Croix State Park before, but it is only about an hour away near Hinckley, Minnesota. The park was almost entirely devoid of birds, with the exception of crows. I enjoyed a hike and had fun searching for agates in the parking lot with Dan, but as far as birding goes, it was a pretty uneventful day. However, we did spot some immature bald eagles on the way to the park. After leaving the park, we spotted two fields of what I assume were tundra swans. I assumed they were tundra swans because they migrate through Minnesota in March as they head to the arctic to nest. There were also other tundra swans spotted in area fields that week (which is why I made the guess that it could be tundra swans). To really identity the difference, I would have had to see the beak, which is often yellow at the base versus all black (for a trumpeter swan). They also have different beak shapes. Tundra swans are also more numerous, and since there were two fields of swans, it seemed logical that they would be tundra swans over the less common trumpeter swans.

These swans were too far away to perfectly identify.

Throughout the month, I went on various hikes, but did not see much bird life other than black capped chickadees, white breasted nuthatches, and crows. However, with the warm weather this week, there has suddenly been an explosion of waterfowl. Today, I went to Wisconsin Point intent on a short hike, but ended up trudging through swampy cattails to try to identify some unknown waterbirds. I am sure there were new species of birds for me to see, but I could only positively identify a few groups of Common mergansers. Still, this is a new bird for my list! Otherwise, I saw many familiar birds such as Canadian geese and red winged blackbirds. I also saw a gull with a black face, but it flew by too quickly to positively identity. In any event, the sudden appearance of so many waterfowl heralds the end of my birding doldrums this month. In all, my experience this month make me feel more attuned to the seasonal movements of birds in my region. My goal was to see 50 new species of birds this year. That may be a bit ambitious. But, I can say that I am slowly becoming a bird nerd.

March Activist Notes

H. Bradford

3/31/17

March was another busy month! I can’t believe that it is already over. Now, I didn’t attend every event that happened this month. That would be impossible. I also didn’t attend every event that I could have attended this month. That would require a revolutionary zeal that I simply don’t possess. I took time to bird watch, paint bird houses, edit a book I have been working on, and attend the ballet. I also took walks, wasted time, and socialized. So, this sample is not all of the events that happened in the Northland this month. It is not even the most important events that happened this month! It is a sample of a few things that transpired so that those who missed them can get an idea of what they missed out on.

Berta Vive in Duluth: March 5th

Berta Caceres was assassinated on March 2nd, 2016. She was an indigenous environmental activist who stood up against the neoliberal plot to build a hydroelectric dam in Rio Blanco, Honduras. Following the 2009 coup which Hilary Clinton’s state department legitimized if not supported, violence against activists has increased. Caceres, a critic of Clinton, was one of many victims of this violence. Witness for Peace is taking a delegation to Honduras this spring, so in honor of Berta, but also to promote the upcoming trip, they hosted this event. The event featured a panel of previous Witness for Peace delegates. This was a great way to start International Women’s Day week, since it connected the struggles of women in other countries to our own brutal foreign policy. Feminism should be for everyone, not just American women. Our foreign policy is anathema to feminism.

International Women’s Day: March 8th

On March 8th, the Feminist Justice League hosted a 78 minute symbolic strike in solidarity with International Women’s Day events around the world. The strike was meant to highlight the wage gap between men and women. If one compares the median income of a man versus a woman, women make about 80% of the income that men make on average in a year (80% is the newest statistic, but 78 is still often quoted). There are many reasons for this. For one, women are not valued, so their labor is less valued. Careers which attract women tend to be lower paid and less esteemed. Because the United States is one of the few countries in the world which does not provide paid maternity leave, women must leave the labor force when they have children. This also diminishes wages. Women are more likely to do unpaid labor and care for children as single parents. This too, diminishes their economic power. It was extremely cold and windy on March 8th, but a few dozen intrepid protestors braved the cold for the whole 78 minutes. At various intervals, we banged on a pot and announced the wage gap between various racial minorities and white men. The banging on the pot was met with “boos!” as we expressed our outrage over the racist, ageist, and sexist wage gap. Black women make about 63% of the median income of white men and Hispanic women make 54%. Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders make 60% of the income of white men and Native Americans make 58%. Women over the age of 55 make about 74% of the income of white men the same age. Wage parity is important since it highlights the economic foundations of sexism (and for that matter racism). The event was followed by a panel discussion, which explored other facets of labor. I especially enjoyed when Ariel spoke about sex work and stripping. She provided a balanced view of the pros and cons of the industry, her struggles and successes as a stripper (especially with stigma), and a call to legitimize all the work women do. Kristi provided great information about Earned Safe and Sick Time in Duluth and Katie Humphrey spoke about how women benefit from unions. A great discussion followed. On April 4th, there will be another wage parity event in Duluth, hosted by AAUW.

Feminist Frolic: Labor History Walk + Discussion

Once a month, the Feminist Justice League hosts a feminist frolic, which involves an outdoor activity and a discussion. This month, Adam was going to present on the labor history of Superior while doing a short walk. Only three people showed up, so we decided to table the event for a later time. However, about an hour later, two more people showed up, so I did a presentation of socialist feminism at the Solidarity House.

13th Documentary: March 13

Superior Save the Kids hosted a documentary showing of 13th. I enjoyed that the documentary was dense with history and information, yet easily digestible. It wove a tight narrative of how the criminal justice system is fundamentally racist. For instance, African Americans make up 6.5% of our population, but 40% of the prison population. It is startling to think that there are more prisoners today then there were slaves during the Civil War. The United States is 5% of the world’s population, but hosts 25% of the world’s prison population. According to the film, the rise of the prison industry was a way to profit while oppressing racial minorities (and really everyone as we are all to varying degrees oppressed by a system that divides us, threatens us, and profits from our punishment). To this end, the “scary black man” had to be invented. Thus, around the turn of the last century, a narrative that black men were rapists, out of control, and associated with criminality was concocted. This narrative legitimized the KKK and racist mobs (such as the racist mob which hung Clayton, Jackson, and McGhie in Duluth). The Civil Rights movement challenged outright violence against and segregation of black people, but violence and segregation have continued through the criminal justice system. For instance, in 1970, the prison population was about 350,000 people. Today, there are states with higher prison populations than that number! By 1980, there were 500,000 people in prison. The war on drug, which penalized crack cocaine harder than other drugs, as well as cuts to social programs, ushered in an era of explosive prison population growth. By the mid 1980s, over 700,000 people were imprisoned. By 1990, the number was over one million. In 2000, the number reached 2 million. The Clintons were complicit in this surge, as Bill Clinton wanted to be tough on crime. Through his Crime Bill and other polices, he supported extra police, the militarization of the police, the construction of extra prisons, mandatory minimum sentences, truth in sentencing (which limits parole), etc. Hillary called black youth “super preditors.” I have no illusions with the Democratic party. But, to be fair, Trump wanted the death penalty for youth. The movie also pointed out that the mass incarceration of African Americans has resulted in a crisis of leadership or less ability to organize themselves for their own rights. There was also information about ALEC, for profit prisons, and the movement of individualizing prison through GPS tracking/ankle bracelets. I had to work that night, so I missed the discussion, but it was a powerful and informative film. Save the Kids hopes to continue to show films on a monthly basis. On April 10th, Selma will be shown.

Bi with (Pizza) Pie: Trans in Prison- March 20th

Each month, Pandemonium, the local Bi+ group gets together for a presentation on a topic. This month, Lucas Dietsche led the discussion with a presentation on the challenges that trans individuals face in the criminal justice system. He gave a very informed and engaging presentation on this topic. Some of the challenges include getting sent to a prison that misgenders the individual (so typically transwomen end up in men’s prisons or transwomen in men’s prisons), lack of access to hormones or other treatments, sexual assault, solitary confinement, lack of access to gender specific items such as bras, solitary confinement, and use of a legal name rather than preferred name or pronouns. When writing to trans prisoners, Lucas noted that the writer can not address the envelope or letter to the preferred name of the individual. The DOC requires that senders must use the legal name of the prisoner. He also noted that the DOC does not track trans individuals since it does not view them as trans. Rather, it lists them as their legal or birth sex. Thus, it is hard to know exactly how many trans individuals are in the prison system as the system renders them invisible. Lucas also mentioned some examples of trans people in prison or who have been in prison, such as Cece McDonald and Chelsea Manning. In the future, we would like to host an LGBTQ Letters to Prisoners Event.

UMD Women and Gender Studies Presentation: March 21st

I was invited to speak at a Feminist Activism and Community Organizing Class at UMD. This was a great experience. I spent the hour speaking about how theory informs the organizational tools that I chose to utilize as a feminist. I spoke about socialist feminism and my focus on building mass movements over electoral politics. The coolest part was that one of the students had read one of my blog posts prior to my visit to the class!

Socialism and a Slice: March 27

One a month, Socialist Action hosts Socialism and a Slice. This is an event for local activists to get together and enjoy pizza while discussing current events. At this meeting, Henry Banks provided us with some information about Uber. He made a strong argument against Uber on the basis that it is not regulated, it can drive up the price of taxis, and that taxis themselves are often utilized by people of color and low income individuals (contrasted with Uber which has more middle class white appeal). Taxi companies are more likely to be unionized than Uber and Adam R. pointed out that during Trump’s immigration ban, Uber continued providing ride services while NY taxi drivers were on strike. Later, Uber undercut taxi drivers who returned to work by turning off surge pricing (that is, when taxi demand goes up, prices tend to go up). This disgusting scabbing should be enough to turn a person off of Uber for good, as it seems that Uber only supports society’s “ubers” and uber profits. Unfortunately, Duluth’s City Council passed a resolution in support of ride share companies later that night.

Homeless Bill of Rights:

The Homeless Bill of Rights meets each Thursday at 6:30 at Dorothy Day House. I did not become involved with the group until October, but the organization has been tirelessly and relentlessly working on this issue since 2013. Finally, after all this time, the Homeless Bill or Rights is finally moving forward. Two important things happened this month. Firstly, the Duluth City Council voted that they wanted to move forward or for action to occur related to the bill. Although this doesn’t mean too much, it does mean that they are looking to see some sort of progress on this issue in the future and are committed to being a part of that. Another hopeful turn of events is that the Human Rights Commission voted to support the language and eleven points of the Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights. They also support this as an ordinance or a template for moving forward with an ordinance. This does not mean that this will be the ordinance that the City Council eventually vote on, as this requires further negotiation. However, it is a nice step forward.

This is a promotional photo taken by the Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights Coalition. The featured individual is an activist who is engaged in this campaign and who has spoken about her experiences (Shareeka), though many individuals had their photos taken to promote the ordinance.

Hotdish Militia:

The Hotdish Militia has continued to meet each Thursday at 5:30. The big project that the group is working on is a Bowl-a-thon to raise funds in support of local abortion access at the Women’s Health Center. The funds go directly to local, low income women (or possibly men/trans/gender non-binary) so they can afford an abortion or other reproductive health care. Right now, we are working on raising funds, but also soliciting businesses for prizes to award the teams. The bowling event will be held on April 29th. Thus far, the fundraiser has raised over 2000 dollars. The goal is $5000. My own modest team, The Feminist Justice League, has raised over $400. While we are not the biggest fundraisers, I am proud that we have raised anything at all and thankful to the donors who have supported us!

Doctrine of Discovery: 3/30/17

Peace United Church hosted a showing of the documentary, Doctrine of Discovery. The film is about how Papal law from the late 1400s has been used to justify the denial of land rights and self-determination of Native Americans. Catholic law has been the basis of U.S. policy regarding Native Americans throughout our entire history. Basically, Catholics did not recognize the right of Native Americans to own their land. Rather, as “heathens” they were viewed as subhumans who benefited from civilization and who did not have rights to the land because they were not making “productive use” of it. As late as 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court (Ruth Bader Ginsburg no less) has upheld this archaic worldview. In fact, this worldview is the foundation of the United State’s very existence. To recognize the property rights of Native Americans would challenge capitalism and the taken for granted right of white people to inhabit/exploit this land. The documentary was awesome and I enjoyed the thoughtful discussion that followed. I also enjoyed learning the origins of some words. For instance, colonization comes from the word colon. To colonize is to digest. What a powerful metaphor. Europeans digested Native Americans by consuming their land, taking their lives, and destroying their culture.

Trans Visibility Day: 3/31/17

The month ended with a picket in support of Trans Visibility Day. Trans Visibility Day was founded in 2009 in the United States to promote positive visibility of the trans community (as opposed to Trans Remembrance Day which is focused on violence against and victimization of trans individuals). Locally, the event was sponsored by the Prism Community, though I believe that other groups such as Trans+ and UWS Gender Equity Resource Center were also involved. The event which I attended was a picket, but the previous night there was a poster making session and later on Friday evening, Prism sponsored a film showing of National Geographic’s Gender Revolution. I did not attend the film. However, the picket was very well attended. It was great to see so many young people, especially high school students. I also liked all the glitter and colorful hair! There was a lot of positive energy! Many vehicles honked in support of the event and I only noticed a few pedestrians and one driver making rude gestures or comments. This was my first time attending Trans Visibility Day and it was a great experience. I also received a few compliments on my sign!

Self Care:

I am not a superhuman, so I did take time for myself. I had a fabulous time attending the MN Ballet’s Firebird. What is better than Stravinsky, Russian folk tales, and my favorite kick ass lich Koschei?! I also visited St. Croix State Park. I saw two fields of tundra swans near the park. Today, I did some birding at WI Point and saw many common mergansers. I also painted some bird houses and worked on editing one of the vampire novels I’ve written. I wish there were more hours in the day. I didn’t have enough time to read or pursue other hobbies. Oh well. It was a great month and I am looking forward to a fun filled, activist driven April!